After leaving his mark on the sci-fi genre with the incredible District 9, director Neill Blomkamp followed up his debut pic with Elysium and Chappie. Admittedly, neither film hit quite the same heights that his first effort did, but they were still impressive enough to catch the attention of same pretty important people in Hollywood. As such, Blomkamp quickly found himself attached to Alien 5, which would reunite him with Sigourney Weaver after working with the actress on Chappie.
From what we heard, his plan was to reboot the franchise, with the fifth instalment in the iconic sci-fi/horror series looking to erase Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection. While it never truly got off the ground, the project did take some significant steps forward and seemed to be on the right track for a while, with impressive concept art surfacing last year. Things were looking pretty good for the film then – until Ridley Scott started putting together Alien: Covenant, that is. It was at that point which Blomkamp’s project started to fizzle out.
Officially, we were told that Alien 5 was being put on hold, but as more and more time passed and Covenant began to take shape, it became clear that the director wouldn’t be getting to make his film after all. Now, in an interview with French publication Allocine, Scott’s weighed in with his thoughts on the matter, saying that he doesn’t think Blomkamp’s take on the franchise will “ever see the light of day.”
“I don’t think it will ever see the light of day. There was never a script. Just an idea that evolved from a dozen or so pages. I had to participate as producer, but it didn’t go farther because Fox decided it didn’t want to do it. As far I was concerned, I had already done Prometheus and I was working on Covenant. “
It doesn’t get much more direct than that. Alien 5 is dead, and it doesn’t look likely that we’ll ever get to see what the District 9 director had in store for us. Especially since Scott is already planning sequels for Alien: Covenant, which have been written. It’s a shame, to be sure, but even after the divisive Prometheus, the franchise is still in pretty good hands with Sir Ridley Scott at the helm and we’re eager to see which direction he takes things in with his upcoming film.
Tell us, are you disappointed that Neill Blomkamp won’t ever get to make Alien 5? And what are you hoping to see with the next entry in the franchise? Sound off in the usual place and let us know.
